More fans attend Edinburgh Derby than Man Utd or Barcelona games

More fans took in the Edinburgh Derby on Tuesday night than games featuring Manchester United and Barcelona.

Both Hibernian and Hearts sold out their initial allocations for the Scottish Premiership clash, with 20,165 fans packing into Easter Road to see the home side claim a 1-0 victory courtesy of Simon Murray’s early strike.

And it has been revealed the derby was better attended than United’s Carabao Cup tie with Swansea and Barcelona’s Copa del Rey clash at Real Murcia.

A crowd of 20,083 watched Jose Mourinho’s side ease to a 2-0 victory at the 21,000-seater Liberty Stadium, courtesy of a Jesse Lingard double, while just 19,089 were in attendance at Murcia’s Estadio Nuevo Condomina - which has a capacity of 31,000 - to watch the Catalan giants beat the third tier side 3-0.

None of the matches played in the Copa Del Rey on Tuesday or Wednesday came close to equalling the attendance at the derby, including matches featuring the likes of Atletico Madrid and Valencia.

Arsenal’s cup win over Norwich was the best-attended match in Europe on Tuesday, with 58,444 fans in attendance at the Emirates Stadium, closely followed by Fortuna Dusseldorf’s DFB Pokal clash with Borussia Monchengladbach, which attracted a crowd of 52,500 to the Espirit Arena.

READ MORE: Analysis: Five takeaways from the derby for Hibs and Hearts

The capital sides have experienced strong season ticket sales this season, with the Hibees shifting more than 13,000 season books to break their club record and Hearts reaching 14,000 ahead of the opening of the revamped Tynecastle.